


The “Head Counselor Because the Former Counselor Died” Club

by Sugarplume02



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27644431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugarplume02/pseuds/Sugarplume02
Summary: As almost all ideas do, the “Head Counselor Because the Former Counselor Died” club started as a joke. For Travis and Connor Stoll, the last head counselor didn’t die, per se, but he was pretty much dead to them.OR, a bunch of teenagers who are definitely not prepared to be camp counselors form a support group.
Relationships: Connor Stoll & Travis Stoll, Jake Mason & Michael Yew, Will Solace & Drew Tanaka
Comments: 16
Kudos: 88





	The “Head Counselor Because the Former Counselor Died” Club

As almost all ideas do, the “Head Counselor Because the Former Counselor Died” club started as a joke. For Travis and Connor Stoll, the last head counselor didn’t die, per se, but he was pretty much dead to them.

The sudden disappearance of a head counselor wasn’t completely rare by the time Travis and Connor became co-counselors, but it was rare enough that Chiron felt it was a good idea for them to work together. It certainly didn’t help that the Hermes cabin was the largest in camp.

For them, the actual camp counselor parts were the easiest. Leading the cabin to activities wasn’t exactly hard, and they’ve mastered nearly everything at camp after staying there for so long. The hardest part was dealing with the aftermath of Luke- everyone was wary of the Hermes cabin, and it was clear to them that not everyone at camp trusted them. It didn’t help that Travis was only 13 and Connor was only 11 when Luke left. All the cabin mates older than them deserted with Luke.

Normally the former counselor could help the learning curve. But for the Stolls, there was no transition period. They only had each other.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The night they burned the shrouds for the campers that died at the Battle of the Labyrinth, Travis approached Micheal Yew. Connor and him debated whether or not they should invite him into their fake club or not, but they ultimately decided right now would be the time Michael would need support the most.

Micheal was sitting away from the action, staring at Lee’s shroud.

Noticing Travis, he began talking. “You know, Lee was going to enter his sophomore year of college this fall. Nineteen. And here I am, a fifteen year old, and I’m supposed to be who he was was. Sure, I could handle the handful of us during the off season, but a war? Battles? I’m just not cut-out for it.”

Travis did, in fact, already know Lee was in his second year of college. Hades, he visited his dorm room during the school year. It was only the natural result of being a year rounder in the Hermes Cabin of all places since he was seven. Technically, Connor and him arrived to camp before Luke, and could’ve hypothetically been the cabin’s counselors before him. He ended up knowing more about every camper than they knew about him. It only made every death and desertion hurt more.

After a moment of silence to digest what Micheal said, Travis brought up what he was meaning to talk about. “I know. Connor and I felt the same when Luke left. No preparation, no warning. We’re making a support group for it.”

Michael looked up, his eyes wet from unshed tears. He managed a smile. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. We’re thinking of calling it the “Head Counselor Because the Former Counselor Died” club. Luke might’ve not died, but we think it’s fitting because he’s dead to us. Care to join?”

“I’ll love to.”

“I’m going to see if Pollux wants to join us, if you want to come with.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It didn’t take much convincing on Travis and Michael’s part to get Pollux to join.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

For the fall, winter, and spring following the battle of the labyrinth, the four of them made an unlikely friend group. They bounced around the nickname Camp Counselors Lite, considering they were all counselors, but it didn’t address the trauma enough. The most practical aspect of the group was that they knew any question they asked the others about running their cabin would be met with understanding. Pollux lived with his mother for some time during the school year, so they didn’t get to see him as often.

It more or less was just the Stolls and Michael. They didn’t feel bad about their numbers, though, as it was more fortunate to have less members than more.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The club didn’t really become a club of more than three until Beckendorf died the next summer. The tradition became solidified, at this point. The night of a funeral, Travis would come up to the new counselor when they needed help the most. That night, it was Jake Mason.

Unlike Michael, Jake didn’t start talking about his struggles when Travis approached. Instead, he only got out a weak, “Hey, Travis.”

“Hey Jake. Have a few minutes?”

Time certainly wasn’t free in the demigod world. Jake said he had time anyways.

“Thanks. So, not to put pressure on you or anything, because that’s the last thing I want to do, but I just wanted to let you know that Connor, Michael, Pollux, and me have a little support group for becoming the head counselor because the former counselor died. Or, in Connor’s and I’s case, the former counselor is dead to us. We meet every Thursday night in Pollux’s cabin, but if you ever have any questions about running a cabin, we’re all here to help, okay?”

Before Jake could even respond, Travis walked away.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Jake showed up to the meeting that Thursday. Beckendorf was a year rounder, and Jake probably was the least prepared to take up the mantle as counselor out of all of them.

The night after the burning of Beckendorf’s shroud, Jake showed up to Dionysus’s cabin. Like Travis promised, four campers were already sitting on the floor in a little circle. Michael and Pollux scooted apart to make room for him to sit down.

Travis cleared his throat. “You know, I’ve always wanted to do introductions like it’s Alcoholics Anonymous, but while I think it would be hilarious to do it in this cabin, Pollux thinks it would be disrespectful.” Pollux rolled his eyes, which didn’t confirm or deny the story. “We also only have, like, five members now, and we all know each other anyway. What I’m trying to get at, Jake, is do you have anything you want to share with us? If you don’t, that’s alright, but there tends to be a lot of emotions to work through at the beginning.”

There was a moment of silence, then Jake started talking. “I, well, I mean-“, he stumbled over his words. “Wait, give me a second.”

“It’s okay, gather your thoughts.” Travis said reassuringly. It was clear he was the unofficial leader.

After a few more moments, Jake started speaking again. “Beckendorf, I, I mean my cabin, we, everyone at this whole camp loved him. He seemed so _untouchable._ And then he, the very foundation of my whole _cabin,_ falls out beneath us?” Jake took a sharp breath. “I don’t mean to sound selfish, but the end of the world could be in a week, and I don’t know how to be a counselor during a normal year, much less during a _war_.”

Michael grabbed Jake’s hand and squeezed it. “I’ve been there before. Most of us have. Gods, Lee was beloved by everyone. And I’m not going to make it sound like it’s easy, because it’s not. It’s really, really not. But I know your cabin really looks up to you, Jake, whether you realize it or not. And I think I’m speaking for everyone when I say that you’re just as prepared for a war as any of us. None of us know what’s happening. None of us in this room know how this war is going to go down, and I could bet money that Beckendorf didn’t know either.”

After Michael’s rather somber speech, the group was rather quiet. Jake’s sniffles could still be heard, even though it was obvious he was trying to hide it. Finally, Travis spoke. “Connor and I were there before, too, and we never really talked about it with all of you, and before this all goes down, I kinda want to let it out. So here it is. It was so, so, so hard to become counselors after Luke left. Luke was the golden boy in camp, even to us. The year rounder, the older brother figure, the most known kid at camp- and then he’s suddenly Kronos’s most important demigod. Explaining it over and over that year, having people constantly question our allegiance, our ability to lead the cabin, it was just so hard to do at the ages of twelve and thirteen. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through it if I didn’t have Connor.”

At the final mention of his name, Connor leaned a little bit more towards the center of the circle. “Well, if I’m going to be honest, I think the hardest part of that winter was the fact that Annabeth wasn’t there because she went back to her family. I couldn’t have done anything without you, Travis, but it’s one thing to have a brother trust you, and to have someone you met later in your life trust you. I knew Annabeth felt the same way I did about Luke, the way we both trusted him as a brother, but I was too much of a coward to bring it up that last day of summer. We didn’t get to talk about it until the year after.”

Silence was a common friend in the group sessions, and it came again. Jake spoke. “How are you guys so happy all the time? How do you do it?”

Everyone else in the group either chuckled or full blown laughed. Travis, with a smile still lingering on his face, answered. “Oh, we aren’t. We just smile and pretend everything is fine to keep morale up. The campers will get nervous if they know we’re nervous, and nervous demigods are distracted, and distracted demigods are dead demigods.”

Jake pondered it for a second. “But if we’re distracted, doesn’t that mean we’re dead?”

Micheal Yew sighed. “There’s a reason we call this club ‘The Head Counselor Because the Former Counselor Died Club.’ We die all too often.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

After the Battle of Manhattan, the club lost one member, but had two new members to recruit. This time around, many, many shrouds were burnt. This time, both of the new members were grieving with each other. Will Solace and Drew Tanaka arrived at camp the same week, and became friends quickly, especially with both of them being year rounders. It was only fitting for them to become head counselors the same week, too.

Travis came up to the pair of them together, the two of them already in conversation. “I’m sorry for interrupting, but would it be okay if I talked to you two for a bit?”

Drew shot Travis a glare. “Oh, so you can insult me, too?”

Will shot her a look as a response, the message coming across as _hey, let’s not assume what his intentions are._

“No. I wanted to ask if the two of you would want to join a support group of sorts. You in?”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

They were, in fact, in. By that Thursday, the group was had six members: Pollux, Travis, Connor, Jake, Will and Drew. They met in Pollux’s cabin, like the summer before.

When Will and Drew walked in together, the four other counselors already found their spot in the circle. They joined the circle, and Travis began to speak. “As you know, we lost one of our members this summer.” Will looked down guiltily, as if he himself was responsible for the death of Michael. “Will, it’s not your fault, and don’t feel guilty for being here. Part of the Head Counselor Because the Former Counselor Died Club is that the last head counselor had to die for you to get in.”

Connor glanced at Travis. “Wait a second, we’re like, officially part of the club. No “he’s dead to us”. He’s actually dead.”

Travis considered this for a moment. “Huh. Anyways, we all miss Michael here. He was a great friend and an even better person. May he rest in Elysium.”

The cabin was quiet for a minute in respect. Jake broke the silence. “May he make the reverse of this club there.”

Pollux sent Jake an incredulous look. “What?”

“A support group for all the head counselors who died. He was really good at supporting us, and gods know that they probably need therapy as much as we do. In Elysium, with him, Lee, Beckendorf, Silena-“

Breaking the silence she held for most of the night, Drew interrupted his sentence. “Don’t put her name in there. She wasn’t a hero, she was a traitor, and she- she-“ Drew choked up. For everyone else in the room, it was the first time they saw her cry.

In the midst of her tears, Connor asked her, “you want to talk about it?” Which just made her cry harder.

“You’re just- just going to not believe me, or not trust me, or not treat me seriously- and” Drew wiped the tears that were slowly falling out of her eyes, “and I know that I’m not making it any better for myself by crying and-“

Will messaged circles on her back. “Hey, it’s okay, let it out.”

Travis added, “Yeah, we’ll be here whenever you’re ready to speak.”

Drew nodded, and after a few more minutes of desperately trying to dry her face, composed herself enough to speak again. “Silena wouldn’t stop talking about how important it was to love each other, how she was above the Rite of Passage because she knew more about Aphrodite than all the Aphrodite kids that came before her, and then she has the audacity to be a spy for Kronos? She said “I love you!!” To every kid at this camp, and some of the kids she “loved” died because of her information? But she does one dramatic show of and suddenly that makes up for everything! And that’s not to mention the fact that she left me, a sixteen year old, a cabin full of heartbroken siblings! Do you know how hard it is to explain to them that their golden girl who died a hero killed so many campers?”

Travis and Connor shared a knowing look. Travis answered the rhetorical question. “Yeah, I could probably guess.”

“What?” Drew’s confusion was clear.

Connor smiled. “We’re like, the OGs. Luke screwed us over so hard. That’s the origin of this club.”

“Huh.” Drew took in Connor’s words. “So does that mean you all in here agree with me? That Silena is a traitor?”

Travis’s eyes focused on Drew. “Let’s just say we know it’s a lot less black and white than people want it to be.”

Drew found that answer to be at least somewhat acceptable, and glanced to her friend on her right. “Will, do you have anything you want to say?”

Will sighed. “Gods, I’m sure I will have much more to say after a week of this. But I’m absolutely terrified right now, and I’m trying not to think too hard about it, because if I do, I won’t be able to take care of my cabin. I really, really miss Lee and Micheal. There’s something ironic about how the cabin and archers and medics who are off to the sidelines go through the most counselors, but honestly, I don’t think I can really think about their deaths and be okay at the same time.”

He let it all out in one go, and only took a breath for a second before continuing at a much softer sound. “I can’t help but feel like this isn’t the end. It feels like the tragedies are just going to keep happening, and I’m so tired of watching my family and friends die.” Towards the end, he choked up a little, but he was holding on to his promise to keep his composure together pretty well.

Out of all the words spoken in the circle that were tearjerking, this was the one of the rare occasions for a group hug. If anyone asked, it was because Will just seemed so young at the moment.

When the hug loosened up, Travis took it upon himself to reboot moral before the off season. “We got through a war. There’s no way we’ll have to get through something tougher than that."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! There's a possibility I'll follow this up with a one shot focusing on HoO/ToA, but I'm still working on my other PJO series right now. 
> 
> Hope to see you at the next fic! xx


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